He did not 'twinkle' long after that. Five or six years later, in Monte Carlo, Van was passing by an open-air caf¨¦ when a hand grabbed him by the elbow, and a radiant, ruddy, comparatively respectable Dick C. leaned toward him over the petunias of the latticed balustrade:
'Van,' he cried, 'I've given up all that looking-glass dung, congratulate me! Listen: the only safe way is to mark 'em! Wait, that's not all, can you imagine, they've invented a microscopic - and I mean microscopic - point of euphorion, a precious metal, to insert under your thumbnail, you can't see it with the naked eye, but one minuscule section of your monocle is made to magnify the mark you make with it, like killing a flea, on one card after another, as they come along in the game, that's the beauty of it, no preparations, no props, nothing! Mark 'em! Mark 'em!' good Dick was still shouting, as Van walked away. (1.28)
In the Second Part of Goethe¡¯s Faust Euphorion is the son of Faust and Helen of Troy (see also Boyd¡¯s Annotations). In Charles Gounod¡¯s opera Faust (1859) ¡°people die for metal¡± (Mephistopheles¡¯ aria). According to Van (see also Chekhov¡¯s letter of Oct. 31, 1897, to Aleksandra Khotyaintsev), in Nice Chekhov (who occasionally went to gamble in Monte Carlo) lived at the Pension Russe, 9, rue Gounod:
In the first edition of his play, which never quite manages to heave the soft sigh of a masterpiece, Tchechoff (as he spelled his name when living that year at the execrable Pension Russe, 9, rue Gounod, Nice) crammed into the two pages of a ludicrous expository scene all the information he wished to get rid of, great lumps of recollections and calendar dates - an impossible burden to place on the fragile shoulders of three unhappy Estotiwomen. (2.9)
On Antiterra Chekhov¡¯s play Three Sisters (1901) is known as Four Sisters (2.1, 2.9). The name of the fourth sister, Varvara (a garrulous originalka played by Marina in a film version), seems to hint at Varvarka, a street in Moscow. In Moscow Chekhov¡¯s family lived at first in the Bolshaya Yakimanka, a street whose name brings to mind Yakim Eskimossoff in Ada:
Van glanced through the list of players and D.P.'s and noticed two amusing details: the role of Fedotik, an artillery officer (whose comedy organ consists of a constantly clicking camera)', had been assigned to a 'Kim (short for Yakim) Eskimossoff' and somebody called 'John Starling' had been cast as Skvortsov (a sekundant in the rather amateurish duel of the last act) whose name comes from skvorets, starling. (2.9)
For a couple of months Van practiced card tricks, then turned to other recreations. He was an apprentice who learned fast, and kept his labeled phials in a cool place. (1.28)
Goethe is the author of Wilhelm Meister¡¯s Lehrjahre (¡°Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship,¡± 1795-96), the novel whose characters include Mignon, a girl who sings the famous song ¡°Kennst du das Land¡¡± (¡°Do you know the land¡¡±). At Chose (Van¡¯s English University) Van tells Dick C. that he always wondered ¡°why the Russian for it - I think we have a Russian ancestor in common - is the same as the German for "schoolboy," minus the umlaut¡¡± (1.28) As VN would know, shuler (Russ., cardsharp) comes from Polish szuler. An old retired shuler appears in Mark Aldanov's novel Chyortov most (¡°Devil¡¯s Bridge,¡± 1924):
§£ §ä§å §ã§Ñ§Þ§å§ð §Þ§Ú§ß§å§ä§å, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §á§Ö§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ §ã§ä§×§â§Ý§Ñ §å§Ý§í§Ò§Ü§å §Ú §á§Ö§â§Ö§ã§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ä§î §Ù§å§Ò§í, §Õ§Ó§Ö§â§î §ã §ê§å§Þ§à§Þ §à§ä§Ó§à§â§Ú§Ý§Ñ§ã§î §Ú §Ó §Ü§à§Þ§ß§Ñ§ä§å §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§à§á§ñ§ã§î §Ó§à§ê§×§Ý §Ô§â§å§Ù§ß§í§Û, §ã§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û, §ß§Ö§â§ñ§ê§Ý§Ú§Ó§à §à§Õ§Ö§ä§í§Û §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü. §¯§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ô§à §Ù§Ñ§ê§Ú§Ü§Ñ§Ý§Ú §ã §Ý§×§Ô§Ü§Ú§Þ §ã§Þ§Ö§ç§à§Þ. §±§Ö§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ §ã§Ö§â§Õ§Ú§ä§à §á§à§ã§Þ§à§ä§â§Ö§Ý§Ñ §ß§Ñ §Ó§à§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ö§Ô§à §Ú §ã§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Ù§ß§Ñ§Ü §Ô§Ú§ä§Ñ§â§Ú§ã§ä§å, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Û §ã §å§Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ §ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý §ß§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§à §Ó§ã§ä§å§á§Ý§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö. §³§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü §á§â§Ú§ß§ñ§Ý §Ó§Ú§ß§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§í§Û §Ó§Ú§Õ, §ã§Ö§Ý §Ù§Ñ §á§Ö§â§Ó§í§Û §ã§Ó§à§Ò§à§Õ§ß§í§Û §ã§ä§à§Ý§Ú§Ü, §â§ñ§Õ§à§Þ §ã §Ú§Ô§â§à§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §Ú §á§â§à§Ò§à§â§Þ§à§ä§Ñ§Ý §Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§à §Ô§â§à§Þ§Ü§à:
-- §¯§Ö §Ò§å§Õ§å, §ß§Ö §Ò§å§Õ§å, §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§Ñ§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ... §´§ã§ã!..
§ª§Ô§â§à§Ü§Ú §ã §ß§Ö§å§Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ §á§Ö§â§Ö§Ô§Ý§ñ§ß§å§Ý§Ú§ã§î, §ä§à§ä§é§Ñ§ã §ã§à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ý§Ú §Ó§Ö§Ö§â§Ñ §Ü§Ñ§â§ä §Ú §Õ§Ö§Þ§à§ß§ã§ä§â§Ñ§ä§Ú§Ó§ß§à §á§à§Ý§à§Ø§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ú§ç §ß§Ñ §ã§ä§à§Ý. §°§Õ§Ú§ß §Ú§Ù §ß§Ú§ç §ß§Ñ§Ü§â§í§Ý §Õ§Ñ§Ø§Ö §ã§Ó§à§ð §Ú§Ô§â§å §á§Ö§á§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§Ö§Û. §¤§â§å§Ù§ß§í§Û §Ô§à§ã§á§à§Õ§Ú§ß §å§Ü§à§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ö§ß§ß§à §á§à§Ü§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý §Ô§à§Ý§à§Ó§à§Û §Ú §Ö§ë§× §â§Ñ§Ù §Ó§ß§å§ê§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §á§â§à§ä§ñ§ß§å§Ý:
-- §´§ã§ã...
§ª§Ó§Ñ§ß§é§å§Ü §å§ã§á§Ö§Ý §ê§×§á§à§ä§à§Þ §à§Ò§ì§ñ§ã§ß§Ú§ä§î §¯§Ñ§ã§ä§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ö §Ú §º§ä§Ñ§Ñ§Ý§ð, §é§ä§à §ï§ä§à §ã§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û §ê§å§Ý§Ö§â, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ-§ä§à §Ô§â§Ö§Þ§Ö§Ó§ê§Ú§Û §Ó§à §Ó§ã§Ö§Û §²§à§ã§ã§Ú§Ú, §ß§à §Õ§Ñ§Ó§ß§à §á§à§Ü§à§ß§é§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §Ú §à§ä§á§Ö§ä§í§Û. §³ §ß§Ú§Þ §â§Ö§ê§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §Ú§Ô§â§Ñ§ä§î §à§Õ§Ú§ß §¨§Ö§ß§ñ... (§à§ß §ß§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ñ§Ý §ä§Ú§ä§å§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§ß§å§ð §æ§Ñ§Þ§Ú§Ý§Ú§ð), §ß§à §Ú §ä§à §Ý§Ú§ê§î §Ó §Ü§à§Þ§ß§Ñ§ä§Ö §Ò§Ö§Ù §Ù§Ö§â§Ü§Ñ§Ý, §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ§Ú §Ü§Ñ§â§ä§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ú §ã §å§ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ, §é§ä§à§Ò§í §á§Ñ§â§ä§ß§×§â §Ò§í§Ý §Ò§Ö§Ù §Þ§Ñ§ß§Ø§Ö§ä §Ú §ß§Ö §Ú§Þ§Ö§Ý §Ó §â§å§Ü§Ñ§ç §ß§Ú §é§Ñ§ã§à§Ó, §ß§Ú §ä§Ñ§Ò§Ñ§Ü§Ö§â§Ü§Ú, §ß§Ú §Õ§â§å§Ô§Ú§ç §á§â§Ö§Õ§Þ§Ö§ä§à§Ó §ã §Ò§Ý§Ö§ã§ä§ñ§ë§Ö§Û §à§ä§â§Ñ§Ø§Ñ§ð§ë§Ö§Û §á§à§Ó§Ö§â§ç§ß§à§ã§ä§î§ð. §¯§Ñ§ã§ä§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ñ §ã §å§Ø§Ñ§ã§à§Þ §å§ã§ä§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§Ñ§ã§î §ß§Ñ §ê§å§Ý§Ö§â§Ñ. (Part One, chapter XIII; see also my post of Aug. 15, 2010)
Mark is a male given name, but also German for ¡°county.¡± Mignon¡¯s song ¡°Kennst du das Land¡¡± brings to mind ¡®German¡¯ Mark Kennensie in Ada:
The unmentionable magnetic power denounced by evil lawmakers in this our shabby country - oh, everywhere, in Estoty and Canady, in 'German' Mark Kennensie, as well as in 'Swedish' Manitobogan, in the workshop of the red-shirted Yukonets as well as in the kitchen of the red-kerchiefed Lyaskanka, and in 'French' Estoty, from Bras d'Or to Ladore - and very soon throughout both our Americas, and all over the other stunned continents - was used on Terra as freely as water and air, as bibles and brooms. Two or three centuries earlier she [Aqua] might have been just another consumable witch. (1.3)
In Goethe¡¯s and Gounod¡¯s Faust Mephistopheles is the devil¡¯s name. In Aldanov¡¯s Chyortov most (Devil¡¯s Bridge) the action takes place at the end of the 18th century (when Goethe¡¯s Wilhelm Meister was written). Aldanov¡¯s real name was Landau, kennen Sie?
Alexey Sklyarenko